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CPTU founder and president, Gwen Samuel: “There should never be a K12 public school or educational law in the state of Connecticut or anywhere in the country that denies a child access to a safe and quality education because of the color of their skin or income level – period.”
The Connecticut Parents Union (CTPU) has filed a federal lawsuit to end race-based enrollment quotas in public magnet schools that unjustly and unconstitutionally deny Black and Hispanic children on wait list access to empty available seats in high quality magnet schools in their neighborhood.

The CTPU, which works to expand safe and high-quality educational opportunities for all Connecticut children, seeks to end this blatant racial discrimination in Connecticut’s public k12 schools.

The issue is a state law that all Connecticut interdistrict magnet schools reserve 25 percent of classroom seats for White or Asian students who choose to not attend inner-city magnet schools. The racial quota originally applied only to the city of Hartford, where a group of parents led by African American LaShawn Robinson filed a similar lawsuit last year. A law passed in 2017, however, expanded this unjust racial quota statewide. Schools failing to meet the racial quotas face funding cuts or even closure, as with New Haven’s Creed High School which closed in 2018 after enrolling too many Black and Hispanic students in empty available seats.

About Connecticut Parents Union
The Connecticut Parents Union (CTPU), a membership organization whereby diverse parents, guardians and families are connected with the educational resources and support system necessary to ensure that neither race, zip-code nor socio-economic status is a predictor of a child’s success.

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We are a melanin-infused collective of educators and education advocates sharing our voices through our individual blogs. Through this magazine, we will offer our perspectives on education from our respective fields and locations -- uniting into one powerful voice.
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